Tancredo considers a run for President

Tom Tancredo, Representative from the 6th District of Colorado, is reported to be considering a run for the Republican Nomination for President of the United States.

Tancredo is best known for his campaign, some call crusade, to protect the American borders from illegal immigrants. Tancredo believes that he speaks for the silent majority of Americans on immigration matters. Much of his criticism is leveled at the amount of illegal immigrants who have crossed the border from Mexico.

If Tancredo does run, it appears that he will be doing it primarily to highlight the immigration issue. Tancredo's spokesperson has said that he would be running for third place, which would be very respectable for an outsider.

Tancredo is spending this weekend in Iowa before making up his mind on setting up an exploratory committee. He will be meeting with Republican leaders during his visit. It is likely that if Tancredo does announce, he will be spending a good deal of time in Iowa over the coming months. McCain is not popular in Iowa - his previous stance in not supporting the ethanol industry didn't go down so well in a major ethanol state. That leaves an opportunity for someone like Tancredo, even if he is virtually a single issue candidate.

Controversial is one of the words that springs to mind when Tancredo's name is mentioned. He has had many run ins with the Bush Administration in the past, and was once reportedly told by Karl Rove that he was a traitor to the President.

Last September, Tancredo addressed a gathering where the 'League of the South', a Southern Nationalist organisation were in attendance. Reports were that the Confederate Flag was prominently displayed and the evening ended with a rendition of "Dixie".

And in November, Tancredo referred to Miami as a third world nation, which led to the cancelling of a Miami Rotary planned function in December with Tancredo as guest speaker. Workers had planned to boycott the event, and possible protests were planned for the evening.

Tancredo was equivocal in a very brief press release issued in response to the President Bush decision to send more troops to Iraq, saying that he was encouraged by the November deadline but was not convinced that an increased military presence would aid in winning the war against radical Islam.